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Wednesday, 27 January 2016

Avocado Hummus

Ever wanted to know what a mix of guacamole and hummus tasted like? Well this is exactly it! It's dreamily smooth (but a little bit chunky here and there, because who wants a paste? That's just weird.) AND it's unbelievably creamy thanks to the avo, also making it incredibly light.

It seems to be that this is just the start of my hummus experimentation thing'y. After reaching out my hummus horizons by searching for alternative flavourings, I had no idea that there were so many possibilities. Wild garlic & rosemary, kale, parmesan, basil pesto, red pepper (well that one is obvious) but you get the gist... lots and lots of add ins to make hummus that bit different and interesting once again.

I have to confess, I was a bit confused at first whether to cook my chickpeas or not. I read up on the internet that I needed to soak my chickpeas (garbanzo beans if you're American) the night before...yet, I had a can which stored them in water?! They also weren't cooked (I don't know if you can buy cooked chickpeas that are canned in the U.S, but here I can't seem to find that convenience.) So, after much deliberation and thought, I decided it would be best to boil to make them till soft, making for a smoother hummus. And where I slipped up on my last hummus efforts.

Anyways, I soaked the chickpeas overnight in twice the volume of water and the next day I rinsed and boiled for about 1 hour. After that time they seemed perfectly squishable between two fingers and so I knew they were done!

Then... after a bit of unnecessary stirring (I can't help myself), I noticed the skins were coming off. What to do!!?? Sit and tediously peel off every single one or leave it... Well, I don't think I peeled them all off but I certainly did quite a lot. Is it worth it? Yes, I believe it is. For the texture was insanely good and so for the added 10 minutes - yeah.

I like to serve with pita pieces, a drizzle of olive oil, extra slices of avocado, a few crispy chickpeas that were leftover for added crunch and of course a leafy green coriander garnish.

You ask how long does it last? About 3-4 days refrigerated in an airtight container, and it doesn't go brown with the added acidity of the lemon & lime in the hummus - thankfully. It makes a hearty few portions so would be great served the next day for lunch on a rye bread smoked salmon sandwich!

Avocado Hummus

Ingredients:

240g drained can of chickpeas (garbanzo beans)

1 ripe avocado, sliced

2-3 tbsp tahini, depending on how strong you like it

½ lime, juiced

½ lemon, juiced

a handful of fresh coriander leaves

3 garlic cloves, peeled

pinch of salt and pepper

60ml extra virgin olive oil

pinch of paprika

2 tsp natural yoghurt

Method

If you have uncooked chickpeas, soak them overnight in twice the volume of cold water.

Drain, rinse well and put into a large pan. Cover with cold water and bring to the boil. Turn down the heat to a gentle simmer and cook for about 1-3 hours depending on how soft they are. Add more water to the pan if necessary so it doesn't boil dry. You should be able to squish a chickpea between your fingers and the skin peels away.

Leave the chickpeas to cool in the water, drain well reserving about 1 tsp of the water for later. Take off any skins from the chickpeas that you can see peeling away. To make the hummus, put all the ingredients into a food processor reserving a few chickpeas for garnish. Whizz away until smooth and creamy, you may want to add the 1 tsp of cooking water to slacken the mixture down. Season with salt, pepper and paprika to taste.